Coming Back Slowly

Week of Mar. 19 ~ 25
Ran: 11/10.6/9.2/9.6/0/0/15 — 55.4km/34.4 mi.  4:44
All runs done with annoying but not seriously bad soreness in left middle and upper hamstring.

Monday
3:00 - 11k run with track team girls.
2k easy with slow girls at about 6:00/k, then 4:45/k to catch the other girls, then 5:20/k the last 7k.
Not a bad run.
Weather: 11C/52F, 10%, sunny — about the same all week, except for rain Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday
11:30 - Machines and core at the gym. Actually trying to do less machines and more of other types of strength exercises.
3:00 - Ran to the Fuchu track from school (4.8k/3mi), watched/timed the kids' workout, ran a bit on the track, ran back.
All at moderate pace.

Wednesday
7:30pm - 9.2k at the track with 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800, 600
All at easy pace - slightly faster than 5:00/k.

Thursday
3:00 - 9.6k school to and from Fuchu track. Out 23:13, back 25:38. 5:00/k pace would be 24:00.

Friday
11:30 - gym workout.
Rest (rain)

Saturday
Rest (rain)

Sunday
2:00 - 15k in 1:17:06 @ 5:09
26:35/25:19/25:12
Left butt sore, then hamstring, then quad. Left leg is not in good shape.
Weight: 62.5kg. Should get back down to 61kg.

Rest Is Not the Answer

Week of Mar. 12 ~ 18

Thanks for the nice comments after the Tokyo Marathon.
So I rested for 16 days after the marathon, hoping that the hamstring/butt/piriformis? pain in my left side would heal. Tried a run on Wednesday night and the pain was there — in fact, it was worse than it had been before the marathon. So much for the value of rest. Well, maybe if I rested for two months it would clear up, but who's going to rest for two months?

Actually, I think that some injuries respond to rest, but others don't. Hamstring and related injuries are ones that don't. It seems that an active, aggressive approach is better: easy running, stretching and exercises. Plus whatever massage, acupuncture, etc. treatments you prefer.

So I'll try that and see what happens. And actually, it had been more annoying that debilitating — I did run a 39-minute 10k and 3:08 marathon last month.

Training is the problem, especially speed training. Which is too bad, since that is what I wanted to start doing. Well, we'll see how it goes.

Wednesday
Easy warmup, then 600/1200/600/1200/600/1200/600 on the track. Only running at 5:00/k pace, but that was probably too fast. It was rather painful.

Thursday
Easy 4.8k while timing the high school track team on a track. A few laps at about 5:00/k pace. HS and butt felt better than the day before.

Friday
11:30 - machines and abs at the gym.
8.5k run with the kids at about 5:00/k pace for 4k, then 5:30 or over. Both HS sore. Then more abs and machines in the school weight room.

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
10k easy in 56:56. Hamstrings only slightly sore.
Weather: 10C/50F with light rain.
Weight: 62.5kg (down from 63, so gained 2k, 4.5lbs after the marathon)

I was also told about an icing method, a good alternative to an ice bath, which I cannot handle. You just turn the shower to cold and run it on your hamstring (or wherever) for 45-60 seconds, then switch to hot water (or prepare a hot bath and get in that) for 45-60 seconds. Do this four times. You have to suck it up to get through the first 10 seconds of cold. After the second time, your leg gets kind of numb, so it's a bit easier. This is supposed to be effective, so I'll do it after every run.